Who Should a Christian Vote for President?

Who Should a Christian Vote for President?

There is no one right answer to the question who should a Christian vote for President of the United States? That said, there is a good way to prayfully answer this question. And, I will give you my answer for who I’m voting for.

Like it or not, we have two political parties in the U.S. Although I may like aspects of the Independent or Libertarian parties, they do not, in fact, elect the President. Only two parties, the Democrats and Republicans elect the President and major offices. If this changes, I’ll be glad to change; but for now these are the options we got.

First, the Dems. As a Christian it is hard to find the rationale for voting Democrat in any State or National election. There may be some exceptions for individual local candidates. However, for Congress, the Senate, and the President there is hardly a Biblical basis for voting Democrat. I know some people have familiar and traditional ties to the party. But parties change. And when a party blatantly departs from Biblical standards, then as a Christian you must depart from that party. One individual candidate may have their own personal views, but as a party at large, there are certain principles they expose. This is the party platform. And usually a party votes in line with the platform. As a Christian I believe it is a matter of priorities. I believe moral issues trump economic and social issues. The Democratic partly supports abortion and planned parenthood. They support gay marriage. Therefore, as a Christian, I cannot support the Dems.

Next, the GOP. There is no Christian party. The GOP is not a Christian party. But the GOP is less diabolical than then Dems. The Republican party does not support abortion or planned parenthood. The GOP supports traditional marriage. (See page 31) That’s enough for me. Sure we can talk about the economy and Constitutional issues. Sure we can talk about Big Government or Small Government. We can talk about Federal versus State control. But again, as a Christian our priorities should be for freedom of worship, and the sanctity of life. It’s hard to profess devotion to Christ and say the economy is the most important issue. I think Jesus would disagree. It’s also hard to say that one party is more benevolent to the poor or underserved. Both parties, regardless of what they say, are committed to maintaining their political power and control. They are not motivated to helping those in need, but only convincing those in need to vote for them.

As a Christian I must vote for the lesser of two evils. Right now that is for the Republicans. So I will vote for whomever the GOP nominate. If the GOP were to change, then I may change. And perhaps not vote at all, or vote for another party. As of now, we still do have some clear differences on moral principles, and so this makes it an easy decision. Notice, I do not vote out of tradition, or self-interest, or family ties. My grandparents were democrats. My parents were for much of their lives too. But this is not how God wants me to decide to vote. And nor should you.

Some Christians argue that we should not try to use the Bible or Jesus as justification for voting. They say Jesus wasn’t political. This is nonsense. Being a Christian means following the Bible, learning from it, and doing our best to live it out. Voting is part of how we live out our life here in this country. Jesus had a lot to say about stewardship. And we must be good stewards of the freedom we have been given while we still have the choice. Someday our freedoms may be gone. And voting haphazardly or out of fear is not being a good steward. As Christians we must vote for leaders who believe in and follow Scripture. If there are none, then we must vote for leaders who do not clearly violate Scripture. It’s really that simple. Christians should not make it more confusing, or get entangled in the morass of issues. And right now, thankfully, we do have a few leaders who believe in and follow Scripture. We should vote for them. Period.

The guys running for President who are Christians and claim to believe in and follow Scripture are Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Ted Cruz. There may be a couple more, like Ben Carson and Scott Walker, but in my opinion they are ‘maybes.’ We can judge someone by their fruit. And, in my opinion, all the other guys have lackluster fruit which makes them largely indistinguishable as a committed Christian. There’s just not enough evidence to clearly say they’d be convicted of being a true follower of Christ. I could be wrong about the rest of the field, but we are only electing one, so these three are followers of Jesus and the clear choice: Huckabee, Jindal and Cruz. So I hope the Republicans nominate one of them. So if you’re in a battleground state, please vote for one of these three. That will help the Republicans nominate a Christian who would most likely make more Biblical decisions. And that’s a good thing. And more importantly, having a true Christian in the highest office in our land is much better than having a non-Christian as president.

This stuff matters. If you think it doesn’t, then revisit the recent gay marriage Supreme Court decision by Obama appointed judges. And if I hear one more fellow believer in defense saying we need to pray for our President, I’m going to ask them why they didn’t pray before they voted for President.